Night of Despair

"Couldn't stay any longer." Xu Ruoying nodded, her expression somewhat bleak. "Stammering Yiyi told me some things about the city. It's very safe, though a bit chaotic, but for someone like me with some technical skills, the city treats me quite well...."

"And before you..."

"Before, I hadn't researched anti-inflammatory herbs, but this time is different." Doctor Xu raised her head, revealing a hope-filled smile. "So, once Stammering Yiyi and I settle down in the city, we'll be stable enough to help you transition over too."

"...." Yu Hong was silent.

Doctor Xu seemed to realize something, and her smile faded.

"The city is so much better than being out here on our own...." she said softly.

"Then I wish you good luck...." Yu Hong replied, equally soft-spoken.

Turning around, he headed back toward the mountain cave safe house.

Though he had long anticipated that others without Black Marks would leave due to the increasing danger in the outside environment, he hadn't expected it to happen so swiftly.

But it was understandable.... After all, for ordinary people trying to survive safely in the wilderness was incredibly tough.

Back in the cave, he took out the letter he received, tore it open, and unfolded the letter paper.

This time, the letter was noticeably more scribbled, many words were misspelled, and the punctuation was either misused or omitted entirely.

It was obviously written by Stammering Yiyi.

'Yu, the things arrived and work very well, I'm doing great here, don't worry, everyone is well, it's very safe here, I'm happy. Don't need to prepare food or drinks, can wear clean clothes and even wash them, it's exciting.'

Yu Hong felt a bit of a headache reading it. That guy really needed to learn how to use punctuation and make paragraphs properly, it was hard to read.

He continued reading.

'Thanks to the large walls made of sunlight materials, the outside monster bugs can't get in, and recently, we also produced talisman array papers printed with luminous stone powder, effectively containing shadows and Evil Shadows. So, I plan to investigate what happened to my parents, I want to know where they went.'

Yu Hong sighed helplessly at this point and took out a charcoal pencil to break up the content with punctuation.

A few minutes later, the letter finally read normally.

'I've also found friends who want to locate their missing families, they are all great. We plan to form a small group to collect all the information. By the way, I've asked around. Some elders from Baiqiu Village are still alive, and someone seems to know about my parents. I plan to inquire after completing our patrol duties.'

The letter stopped there.

Yu Hong folded the letter back up. For some reason, after reading it, he felt a bit more relaxed, and his mood seemed to improve.

Imagining Stammering Yiyi in far-off Baihe City, Hope City, racking her brains at a desk writing to him, he couldn't help but smile slightly.

Right then, he remembered something and fetched some anti-inflammatory herbs that Doctor Xu had given him. He knew the herb blend and, thinking of how Stammering Yiyi might get injured in the military and suffer from infections.

He placed his hand on the medicine powder bag.

'Enhance the anti-inflammatory medication, direction: strengthen effect.'

Soon, black lines flowed out, and a countdown appeared: 2h 21m.

Yu Hong confirmed the Black Mark's enhancement requests, watching the countdown begin to tick down before withdrawing his hand.

'Enhance and send the medicine over to her, and given that talisman arrays can be delivered, the postal system must have some reliability. The price is just a bit steep. And the fact that Stammering Yiyi can send letters to both me and Xu Ruoying probably means there's some military benefit involved.'

He stood, beginning to practice Heavy Leg Skill. Although he was injured, his thighs and calves were fine, and practicing this wasn't a problem.

Two hours passed quickly.

The countdown on the medicine powder disappeared, and the whole pack flashed, turning into a compacted board of tablets, neatly sealed in a silver package from who knows where.

Yu Hong picked it up and examined it; there were twelve tablets in total, with user instructions printed on them.

'Adults weighing between fifty and one hundred kilograms, one tablet daily, post-meal. For children, dosage is adjusted proportionally to weight. One course spans seven days, with a one-day gap between treatments.'

'Primarily treats: systemic muscle inflammation, pulmonary and bronchial, tonsil inflammation, gastrointestinal irritation, oral inflammation, and can be used externally for wound disinfection.'

"Not bad!" Yu Hong nodded in satisfaction; this could potentially be a big help to Stammering Yiyi.

He immediately started writing a reply to Stammering Yiyi and attached the medication to send over.

*

*

*

A week later, Baihe City.

Coastal Base.

Layered waves crashed against the concrete walls on the base's exterior, splashing white foam.

Inside the base, the soldiers' barracks were bustling with lively young female soldiers chatting and laughing.

In one of the dorms, dimly lit, four iron bunk beds lined the side walls.

Stammering Yiyi lay hunched over a black iron desk near the window, reading a recently received letter.

The letter was from Yu Hong, and it had a board of anti-inflammatory tablets inside. This made Stammering Yiyi quite happy.

Recently, she had overstuffed herself, resulting in an upset stomach.

Although she tried the medications allocated by the military, they hadn't worked, clearly not the right solution. And in the current environment, although drugs existed, the varieties were far fewer than in the peaceful times before.

"Lin Yiyi!" A ponytailed girl suddenly burst into the dorm in a hurry.

The girl looked about sixteen or seventeen, dressed in camouflage military uniform. Her face carried a hint of a foreign high nose bridge, her skin quite fair, seemingly mixed-race.

"We just received notice. Be prepared to gather tomorrow. Our team is going to investigate the explosion at the southern water plant. We need to prepare in advance, the situation might not be good."

The girl, named Ou Li, was the closest friend Stammering Yiyi had among the dorm's four residents.

Because Stammering Yiyi was a stutterer and somewhat simple-minded, Lin Yiyi wasn't very popular. Adding to that her appearance and intellectual shortcomings, she couldn't use many of the instruments and equipment necessary for facing the rapidly changing dangers outside. People like her were extremely unwelcome.

Those quick on their feet were the valued mainstays now.

Ou Li, like her, was unwelcome, leading the two to naturally stick together due to their isolation.

"Tomorrow, gather?" Stammering Yiyi put the medicine away, turning to her friend.

"This mission is a bit dangerous. Make sure to pack everything. Don't leave anything behind," Ou Li advised.

"Got it, thanks." Stammering Yiyi responded forcefully.

"Just help carry my backpack." Ou Li waved her hand.

"Okay!" Stammering Yiyi nodded. She hesitated then spoke again. "You, tomorrow, accompany me..."

"No need, my speed alone is much faster than yours. You don't know anything, and you're too slow." Ou Li said bluntly.

"Okay... then." Stammering Yiyi lowered her head, somewhat disappointed.

Ou Li pursed her lips, muttered a few words under her breath, and left.

"Oh, remember to wash my underwear and socks." Her voice drifted back in.

"Okay!" Stammering Yiyi quickly replied, a happy smile appearing on her face.

*

*

*

"The biggest issue in this encounter was that I couldn't react fast enough to the opponent's moves, nor could I predict their actions. Of course, those are secondary."

Yu Hong reviewed the encounter within the cave.

"The main point is... I wasn't resilient enough."

He recalled the previous encounter process.

'If I could have stayed steady when hit, I could have launched a kick immediately as a counterattack. Unfortunately, most times I couldn't maintain my balance, getting knocked off and failing to strike, as my legs instinctively aimed to regain balance for the body, thereby losing the chance to counterattack.'

'So my current priority is to enhance stability and ensure the body remains steady. And this... coincidentally aligns with the central concept of Heavy Leg Skill.'

Yu Hong quickly realized the key was to add weight.

Bearing weight....

'Rather than simply increasing weight, it would be better to thicken the Protective Suit, enhancing its defense. This would kill two birds with one stone, boosting both stability and protection.' Yu Hong thought to himself.

'I'm not like those martial arts masters who can strengthen their base through horse-stance and years of disciplined practice. I lack that level of perseverance and time. But....'

Yu Hong's gaze moved to his fully reinforced suit, focusing on the area around his calves.

'I might not master the base skills, but I can certainly make my lower body heavy enough!'

Without hesitation, he began modifying the newly acquired White Python Guo Xudong bulletproof suit.

The suit featured a small White Bear insignia on the chest, marked as Aurora's production, so Yu Hong simply referred to it as the White Bear suit.

The White Bear suit had a damaged leg and a small hole in the chest but would naturally repair itself once enhanced.

Importantly, Yu Hong started adding weight to the legs and feet of the suit, inserting wooden planks as panels and wrapping torn fabric around them.

Soon, an unusual protective suit—heavy at the bottom and light at the top—appeared before him.

Yu Hong extended his hand to attempt enhancement.

'Enhance the Protective Suit to the limit, direction: increase lower body weight and size, reinforce full-body armor, strengthen the breathing valve's protective hardness.'

This time, nearly losing a crucial point when his breathing valve was smashed by attackers left a lasting impression, prompting this specific request now.

During Black Mark enhancement, he vividly conjured the image of the desired protective suit in his mind.

This was a little technique he had recently developed: by envisioning a specific shape during the enhancement process, he could guide the output results in the intended direction.

Soon enough, the black lines emerged and sent feedback.

'Enhance White Bear suit?'

The cold mechanical voice triggered again, bringing Yu Hong a sigh of relief. At least he could enhance it now.

Then, he checked the appearing countdown.

'7d 7h 05m.'

"....."

This duration.... So he temporarily canceled the enhancement, needing to focus on short-term demands for other items before addressing this long-term project.

Shifting the White Bear suit aside, he proceeded to inspect the other newly acquired spoils.

"What's this... Pyroxene blanket for?" Sitting in the cave, he carefully examined the object he was holding.

From the attacker's belongings, because he frequently handled luminous stone and Large Pyroxene Stone powder, he immediately recognized the substance clinging to the blanket was Pyroxene powder.

"Could it be used for crafting a simple Pyroxene Secret Room?" he speculated.